plus factor

plus factorn.— «he University of Michigan’s policy of giving favored minorities 20 extra points on a 150-point admissions index to achieve undergraduate “diversity” was unconstitutional, but its law school’s use of race as a “‘plus’ factor” to achieve “a “critical mass’ of underrepresented minorities” was constitutional—assuming, as O’Connor thought it realistic and pertinent to do, that in 25 years race-conscious admissions policies will not be “necessary.”» —“The Court’s Electoral Thicket” by George F. Will Washington Post June 30, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)